Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS), in partnership with the Dubai Future Foundation, has developed the ‘Immediate Response’ project under the umbrella of the ‘Dubai 10X’ initiative. The project features an application that utilises Artificial Intelligence to help volunteers identify patients’ emergency cases and guide them through the necessary procedures to help save their lives while waiting for the ambulance, thus transforming every Dubai resident into a potential life saver.

The Immediate Response project is one among several 10X initiatives launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation during the World Government Summit held in February 2018. The ambitious initiative sets the strategy for Dubai to achieve today what other cities around the world will achieve in 10 years.

Dubai Residents Life Savers

“We endeavour through this project to transform every resident and visitor in Dubai into a versed life saver to enhance the quality of ambulance services by speeding up the response time to less than four minutes. The project is part of our efforts to implement our strategy and contribute to the realisation of the Dubai Plan 2021 while ensuring a healthy and safe environment for Expo 2020 visitors, and improving the National Emergency Response Index to four minutes,” said His Excellency Khalifa Al Drai, Executive Director of the DCAS.

“Reducing response time is one of the challenges faced by ambulance services globally. A response time of four minutes has never been achieved by any ambulance service. However, through this innovative project, DCAS will be able to provide immediate help in vital areas in Dubai, surpassing the initial target of four minutes by integrating savers from the community and utilising smart systems based on AI and VR to harness residents’ skills,” added Al Drai

The project employs the capacity of Artificial Intelligence to process big data to analyse patients’ health and predict their medical case, providing community members with appropriate treatment guidance. The volunteers will get additional support through a video call option with the medical team.

“The project will have a direct impact on our community and its future, given that 80% of minor cases take place in public buildings, and the Corporation responded to around 180,000 cases in 2017. Through our innovative service, we aim to instill a sense of belonging among residents, increasing happiness levels and saving lives”, he added.

“We are currently implementing the regulatory framework for the project, and selecting the right tools to overcome any challenges. As a first step, we will be launching a prototype that will allow us to further examine and enhance our service until its official launch. The Corporation will need around 24 months to implement the project in coordination with our partners, including Dubai Police, Community Development Authority, Dubai Health Authority, Telecom Regulatory Authority, Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, health insurance companies and application developers,” Al Drai said.

“Our project will transform ambulance and healthcare services in an unprecedented way, taking advantage of current challenges – which include cultural diversity and residents’ density in Dubai that make it hard to identify exact locations, as well as low awareness levels of first aid services in cases that require emergency interference – and turning them into an opportunity to develop and advance medical and healthcare services in Dubai,” he added.